Sarah Harbaugh on her husband Jim and Super Bowl Media Day: “I try to tell him to smile a little bit”

I’ll be getting into more of the bizarre questions and calm answers in a full column later today.

But I spotted his wife Sarah standing on the outskirts of the media horde throughout–she left for a bit, but was there for most of her husband’s 60 minutes of talk–and figured she’d be the best evaluator of the hour.

We talked near the end of Jim’s session–Sarah was open and funny, and very proud of her husband. Here’s the conversation…

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—-SARAH HARBAUGH interview transcript/

-Q: Did he prepare himself for this one hour? That’s a lot of talking.

-SARAH HARBAUGH: He was actually very prepared. When I talked to him last night, I said, ‘You know, you’ve got an hour tomorrow. You’ve got to be kind and happy.’ And he was up for the challenge. And he was excited to do it.

I’m just seeing him now, but I guess he’s done well today. I’m happy. He’s spunky.

-Q: Do you think Jim wanted to project a positive mood in these sessions this week?

-SARAH HARBAUGH: I think he does. I don’t think he pays much attention to the bad stuff. But I remind him, ‘You need to smile, you need to answer better. Answer the question!’ (Laughs.) Some of the questions I understand (not answering). But last night, he was excited to do this today. He was ready.

-Q: He knew he was going to be asked about his brother plenty… or was probably braced for it.

-SARAH HARBAUGH: I think he’s gotten that over with. I think maybe he was a little worried this was going to be about my brother and me, and surprisingly not very many people are talking too much about that.

So I think he’s been pleasantly surprised. But he’s ready to answer.

-Q: He comes off the plane carrying your baby, sure seems like he’s trying to make this week feel like a normal week—if possible…

-SARAH HARBAUGH: He really is. He tries to have dinner with us. The girls wanted to run around the hotel ballroom last night and he played with them for a good hour.

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They don’t have a clue what’s going on and he’s not acting any different. So it’s been good. It’s been a good, normal feeling.

-Q: When you see him with us and maybe he’s a little blunt, do you flinch at all? Or do you just feel like that’s part of his job?

-SARAH HARBAUGH: You know, I used to. But I kind of understand. I also think he needs to, like everyone needs to, respect people. And I think he’s getting better. I think he knows it’s part of his job, but I can see the irritation with some questions…

-Q: The repeated ones…

-SARAH HARBAUGH: Yeah, and the irrelevancy. But I think he’s trying more and more to be a good sport about it all.

-Q: He told us last week he likes this. I think some of it he does actually enjoy, maybe.

-SARAH HARBAUGH: I do, too. He likes to talk, you know? (Laughs.) He likes talking, and talking football.

You know, when he’s in the mood, I think he can be the best at this. But when he’s got other stuff on his mind, then obviously you can tell he’s quite curt and will cut you off.

I feel like he’s getting better. I don’t have much to do with it, but I try to tell him to smile a little bit.

-Q: I’ve always said that I respect that he’s probably not any different up there on the podium than he is with his players or at any other time—this is who he is. He’s not putting on a show to hide who he is.

-SARAH HARBAUGH: Never. He is who he is to a “T” all the time. And he’ll never change.

Even the things I really want him to change, he really won’t…

-Q: And what would some of those things be?

-SARAH HARBAUGH: Oh, let’s see—chewing tobacco. His outfits. (Laughs.) But all that stuff, I’ve grown to love. It’s just Jim and he’s going to be who he is and no one’s going to change him, not even me.

-Q: What’s he enjoying the most this week?

-SARAH HARBAUGH: I think that in the 15 years that he played, this is the ultimate goal. He never got to enjoy that. I think he’s really trying to take it all in and telling his players to do the same.

But not quite yet, to focus, get the game over with, and then enjoy the victory. It’s all business right now.

-Q: Have you been able to spend any time with his parents?

-SARAH: They’re getting in today and we’re going to have dinner tonight. Jim’s not joining us because of practice… but we’re going to see them quite a bit. They want to see the grandkids.